Texas beauty school’s cell phone jammer leads to $25K fine

When 5W and 8W cell phone jammers showed up in Florida and Texas businesses, …

What does a cosmetology school just outside Dallas need with a 5W adjustable cell phone jammer? Blissful quiet in the classrooms, apparently. But the school's decision to install the jamming unit (it had three more that weren't yet set up) in 2009 was one link in a chain that last week led the Federal Communications Commission to propose a $25,000 fine against the company hawking the products.

London-based Phonejammer.com has actually been in the FCC's view for some time. Back in 2008, the agency issued a citation to Phonejammer (PDF) for "marketing in the United States radio frequency devices designed to intentionally interfere with cellular and PCS frequencies."

Despite the company's claim that it was not marketing such products in the US, where they remain illegal, FCC staff noted that the jammers were all priced in US currency, the United States was set as the default shipping location, and the site contained "testimonials of United States citizens regarding phone jammers and that they had purchased from Phonejammer." Also, the site's jammers target US cellular and PCS frequencies.

You might suspect that the interests of the federal government in your business practices might be reason enough to change them, but then again, you don't run Phonejammer. On November 9, 2009, the FCC received a complaint (apparently from AT&T) about cellular interference in the 800MHz and 1900MHz bands. Staff from the FCC's Texas field office tracked the problem to the Cosmetology Career Center in Carrollton, Texas and found a 5W jammer on the premises (PDF).

The jammer was handed over to the Feds, as was a "copy of an April 21, 2009 invoice sent by e-mail from sales@phonejammer.com for the sale and shipment of a Model PJ005." The invoice clearly showed a US shipping address.

When the FCC contacted Phonejammer earlier this year, the company's lawyer claimed that Phonejammer "has not shipped or distributed units to the United States."

Oops, I did it again

In March 2010, the FCC got another complaint from Florida, where the St. Lucie County's Sheriff's Office noted some interference that was affecting its detectives. The FCC's Florida field office tracked the problem to a business in Port St. Lucie. This time, agents found an 8W jammer, again sold by Phonejammer.

The FCC last week proposed a $25,000 fine (PDF) against the company for the two violations, higher than its minimum $14,000 fine amount due to "a pattern of intentional non-compliance." Phonejammer has 30 days to either pay the fine or challenge it.

As for that 5W jammer operated by the Cosmetology Career Center, it's still available for $395, it has two antennas, a jamming radius of 2-25m, and it blocks PCS, GSM, and CDMA signals between 850MHz and 2100MHz. The site lists its "operating location" as South America and Africa.

Phonejammer's customers must have numerous questions about the legality of these jammers; the list of frequently asked questions includes "will Customs allow your purchase?" and the answer is a less-than-reassuring "to date, no items have been confiscated."

The CommLawBlog, which highlighted the FCC's proposed fine, concluded with this parallel: "Ironically, in both Texas and Florida it is legal to openly carry firearms into a Starbucks, say. But not a phone jammer. So when the cell phone at the next table erupts into The William Tell Overture and its owner bellows, “HELLO? HEY! YEAH, IN A STARBUCKS! IT’S RAINING HERE! SO WHERE’RE YOU?” pulling out the jammer is not an option. It’s the firearm or nothing. This may not be good public policy."